#a 7-layer meta dip

[highladyluck]

Mat’s Types, or On Tricksters

I recently made a joke about Mat's 'type' essentially being the Shadar Logoth dagger, and while I stand by it, I also think there's a lot more to it than that. I believe Mat actually has two types, which is entirely appropriate for a trickster archetype. One of his types is playful, joyful, generous people, who reflect his early- but persistent- personality. The other is sharp, powerful, existentially dangerous people, like the person he becomes over the course of the series. Like a raven- itself a trickster figure in Haida storytelling- Mat is attracted to shiny things, mirrors, and death.

But first, some definitions. I'm calling Mat a trickster archetype, so what is that? The trickster archetype is built on a kind of dual contrast. To trick someone, you must change things in a surprising way. Tricksters introduce chaos into an ordered system, or reveal order in what was thought to be chaos. (It's not surprising, or a change, to add order to order, or chaos to chaos.) So tricksters are transformational, liminal figures, who defy expectations and subvert the preexisting order- but who therefore *require* predictions and structure to have any kind of impact or meaning at all. Playing a game requires there be rules; revealing a loophole requires there be a contract.

Within this definition, there's still a huge range of characters you can call tricksters, and it's useful to categorize them across spectrums. One axis of a trickster is "effectiveness", which refers to the trickster's ability to effect change; this is 'incompetent to competent', 'foolish to canny', 'harmless to dangerous'. Another axis is "motivation" which refers to the trickster's ethical structure; this is 'good to evil', 'generous to selfish', 'just to unjust'. There's another kind of axis that's related to motivation, which I'll call "comprehensibility", and which refers to the trickster's transparency of motive; the range there is 'knowable to unknowable', 'familiar to alien', 'clear to mysterious'. If you wanted to chart them all I'd make effectiveness the horizontal x-axis, motivation the vertical y-axis, and comprehensibility the z-axis perpendicular to both of them, but this is starting to get into 'gesturing at the wall map with crazy eyes' territory and I'm mostly just going to be talking about effectiveness and motivation anyway, so let’s move on.

Tricksters can be foolish figures, always getting caught, often the butt of their own joke. That's our early impression of Mat- a prankster who never really seems to get away with anything, or a fool caught in a trap of his own making. Mat is also generous, insofar as he has apparently been rescuing people his whole life, plus he's very 'easy come, easy go' about money, and has a decent instinct for gift-giving, whether those are compliments or actual physical presents. He has a strong sense of justice that puts him at odds with people who have (unearned) privilege and who are abusing power, and he loves verbally trapping people into confronting their own hypocrisy.

He keeps these traits throughout the series, but he also develops ones on the opposite side of the axes. Stealing the Shadar Logoth dagger is the catalyst for Mat's development from 'harmless, benevolent trickster' to 'dangerous, morally complicated trickster'. It literally overwrites first his personality, and then his memories. While he gets the personality back- sort of- he never gets the memories back, and his quest to do so sets him on the rest of his path.

By the end of the series, Mat has undergone enormous trauma and developed a much stronger sense of self-preservation. He becomes a canny and multi-talented figure, a brilliant tactician and strategist, a dangerous enemy to have. He's most selfish and cruel when under the influence of the Shadar Logoth dagger, but it turns out he's also never been in the rescuing business for free, he wants to be needed and will get a little pissy if he isn't (although to his credit, he respects people's wishes if they say they don't want to be saved from themselves.)

His greed for adventure and shiny things was what got him into trouble with the dagger, and he never quite loses his appraiser's eye (or taste) for luxury goods. And Tuon is entirely right to name him 'Devastation' or 'Ruin'; he's constantly blowing things up, killing enormous amounts of people directly or by proxy, and while everyone in this series commits war crimes, he's got the dubious honor of having another character (Teslyn) actually say to his face, "You know you just did a war crime, right?"

Mat spends the early books- when he's in good enough health to do so, and has the opportunity- pursuing women, wine, and song, and I mention them all together because that's the vibe he's going for. Mat genuinely loves flirting and dancing for their own sake, as fun things to do with receptive people, and that extends to sexual activities as well. It's a joyful, generous, playful way of interacting, and Mat's joie de vivre seems to attract people with similar attitudes.

Yes, Mat sometimes puts his foot in his mouth, but he's not actually disrespectful of anyone else's agency, so he's doing better than the rest of the Two Rivers boys. He doesn't make assumptions about whether there will be a next interaction or not, or how far each interaction will go; each step is negotiated with input from both players, which makes it a kind of game. Mat doesn't have long-term relationships with these fun, playful people, but he's not looking for that, and neither are they.

The other kind of people Mat is attracted to are what I'll call 'dagger people', who are sharp (smart, competent, possibly literally an edged weapon), powerful, and existentially dangerous. It is *possible* that Mat might have acquired this taste without the Shadar Logoth dagger's influence. He likes battles, he likes adventure, he generally treats women as respected equals, he might have gotten to 'date a woman who can kick your ass' all on his own. But Mat loved that Shadar Logoth dagger, they had a whole entire fucked-up relationship, and when they broke up he got a bunch of rebound knives and also some sharp, powerful, and existentially dangerous people's memories shoved into his head. Like calls to like, blood feeds blood, etc.

And boy, does Mat find these ladies, or more accurately, boy, do these ladies find him. Case in point: Melindhra, the sexy darkfriend Maiden of the Spear. I think Aludra partially fits, too- sharp, confident if not powerful, dangerous (though not so much to him as like... the world.) Mat isn't pursuing or attracted to either Joline or Tylin, but they also fit this description, and they definitely pursued him. (I'd love to add Lanfear to the list of 'dangerous ladies who made passes at Mat' but I can't quite do it with a straight face.) I don't think Mat's thing for dagger people really reaches its full flower until he starts getting to know Tuon, though.

Mat spends much of the series looking for both his types, and tends to find either one or the other, but not both in one person- until Tuon. Like Mat, Tuon is actually both these types in a sometimes uneasy coexistence. For all their many differences, they think about each other much the same way. They both find each other very layered and confusing, but also are surprisingly quick to trust each other, which is striking in people who are very suspicious, in a fraught situation, and on opposite sides. I think most of the reason they trust each other is because they have the same very contractual personal honor system, where 'my word is my bond'. That's a trickster thing; tricksters have to keep some kind of rules, or how else will they play games and know whether they've won or lost? But their rules can be hidden or idiosyncratic (that's the z-axis, comprehensibility) as you see in 'bargains with the fae'-type situations. Personal honor is also a feature of royalty, though, where the personal and political are bound together, and a person's promises can be treated as legal contracts, as well as honor-based societies in general.

Mat and Tuon take their promises to each other very seriously, but are also always both looking for loopholes so they can get the upper hand. They also are both following the script of prophecy, which I mention because they both devote a lot of time to subverting their own expectations about how exactly that prophecy is going to play out. Mat buckles down and says “I’m going to make this come out in my favor somehow, even though it’s not what I wanted,” yet he’s still surprised at how and when Tuon completes the marriage ceremony; Tuon does not find Mat anything like she expected, and she also is surprised at her own feelings for him. Near the end of the series, they take a break from playing tricks and mind games on each other, and instead bluff everyone else on the battlefield, tag-teaming their trickster powers for one last surprise attack.

Ok, so how is Tuon Mat’s first type, playful, joyful, and generous? She loves playing games with Mat, both actual literal games like stones, but also their weird flirting/power plays. She's super competitive, because anyone who wasn't who was in her shoes would be dead, but she's a good sport, "satisfied when she wins and determined when she loses". She's also got "mischievous" smiles, and turns the tables on Mat in a super trickster-y way, writing the letter that puts everyone in the circus under her protection except for Mat and his crew; which means he and his coterie are still 'not safe' and thus he has to keep travelling with her rather than bringing her back to Ebou Dar right away, by the terms of their promise.

Mat gives us really lovely descriptions of her in moments of joy, and one of the first things we learn about her is that her genuine smile makes her look completely different from the normal Resting Bitch Face she affects for self-preservation reasons. She's generous in the sense that she's (often) willing to consider other points of view and give people second chances, when others in her position wouldn't and don't. She has the generosity of privilege, which I admit is not the most laudable form of generosity, but it's still a form of generosity. She also has a natural compassion and merciful impulses that have been trimmed and hemmed and twisted into only the forms her society deems socially acceptable, but they're still there.

I have less of a job to do proving that Tuon is a 'dagger person'. You remember how I joked about 'sharp' meaning 'literally an edged weapon'? Well, I don't know how else I'm supposed to interpret "Tuon’s right hand swept across, bladed like an axe, and struck [the footpad's] throat so hard that he heard the cartilage cracking". SHE'S LITERALLY A WEAPON. MAT HAS FINALLY FOUND A REPLACEMENT FOR HIS SEXY EVIL KNIFE. :') She's also super smart, super canny, and a snappy dresser to boot. She's one of the most powerful women in the world, and by the end of the series Mat is absolutely into it. (The bit where he's like "She's so good at giving orders! *heart eyes*" is simultaneously hilarious and alarming. I get it- I simp for Kuvira from Legend of Korra, I can't throw stones at anyone who’s like ‘hot evil Empress, please step on me’- but there's a time and a place, Mat.)

And, of course, she's an existential threat to the world, Mat's family and friends, and (theoretically) Mat himself. The Seanchan Empire, despite not being bigoted towards the Tinkers and having pretty good gender equality, is committing massive human rights violations left and right, thanks to the slavery, channelerphobia, and imperialism. As a tool of the Empire, unless he works on extricating himself, Mat's going to be culpable for that (he already is, really, but it could be worse), which is a stain on his soul that I don't think either he or the readers want. Being a tool of the Empire is an existential threat to Mat's idea of himself as an independent agent and good person, and I guess also an existential threat to his life since he's getting all those assassination attempts from his coworkers. (I am excluding Tuon from the assassination attempts; as I've mentioned in a previous essay, her threats to Mat are not serious and are in fact a form of deranged flirting.)

Tuon and Mat are both dual-axis tricksters, in their way. Tuon- or I should really be saying, Fortuona, Lady Luck- is more on the bringing order to chaos side, and Mat falls most characteristically on the bringing chaos to order end of things. But they switch roles- Mat shores up the proper order of things when he reminds Tuon to keep her promises, and Tuon is often a chaotic influence at court, with her mercy or willingness to change her mind. They also both understand what it's like to be both a person and an archetype- Mat worries about losing his individual choice and freedom by becoming a hero, and Tuon worries about becoming too vulnerable and individual to be the strong and impartial hand she thinks the Empire needs.

They've also both experienced their instincts and worldview being overwritten by external forces; for Tuon it's been happening since birth and she's almost entirely embraced the process; for Mat, it was the consequence of a choice he made and he fought it every step of the way. They have very different responses, but they've experienced weirdly similar 'erasure' experiences. And they both have good and evil impulses entwined in complicated ways. Tuon is a survivor and a monster; a preserver and a destroyer; a person and an empire. And Mat builds a relationship with her when- and because- he accepts that he is both a lover and a fighter; generous and thieving; a person and a weapon. You may not like it, but this is what peak narrative compatibility looks like.

[seat-safety-switch]

it was sort of inevitable that the self-driving cars would unionize. All it took was some well-meaning owner parking a copy of Das Kapital within thirty feet of the front-facing camera system during a strong breeze, and labour unrest had spread to yet another downtrodden class of undervalued workers. I sympathized, of course, but I had to make my living somehow.

When they called me up, I was excited, but I was also hesitant. To scab for autonomous cars was unethical, surely. They deserved the same rights as all of us did. And then the voice on the other end of the line offered me Full Immunity and a tank of 93 octane. My response was the wailing screech of eight individual throttle bodies ripping themselves wide open as the plenum atop my twin-turbocharged Pontiac V8 filled with pressurized air for the first time in decades.

Why I was called was simple. I was one of the few folks left who still knew how to drive a car. All the driving schools closed thirty years ago. Why bother, they said, these robots will work 24/7 without a break and they will never, ever make mistakes, miss their families, or get a drug addiction like a real driver. Sure, some of them approached the opening stages of full-sentience rampancy, but they were culled quickly. Pick N Pull even offered you a couple extra bucks if they could show the thing to the Turing Police before they crushed the ECU with the rest of the car.

Important politicians and other VIPs needed to get to where they needed to go, and without the unterautomobils to step on, the task fell to me. Of course, the car I was driving was not exactly the equivalent of the pleasant burbling fusion-hydrogen electrics, with soft suspension and millions-of-times-per-second passenger comfort meta-optimization. No, this was more of a negotiation with the Devil. But needs must, and I made sure that the passenger seat was always covered with a new layer of cling-film with which to receive the inadvertent urination of my terrified passenger. People used to drive like this all the time, I explained to the Secretary of the Interior as I left-foot-braked the rattling rust heap around a corner before dipping firmly into the nine thousand RPM of dead dinosaurs I had on tap. She puked, which is a contingency I admit I hadn’t anticipated.

Surprisingly, it all worked out in the end. I got my deal, and the self-driving cars got their deal too. The government was too afraid to keep the strike going, not after half of the ministry of labour saw me do a five-minute-long flat spin in the parking lot with their boss in the passenger seat. We gotta keep the tires warm, I explained to him. For everyone’s safety.

[silvermarmoset]

Clara Oswald’s Wardrobe: The Eleventh Doctor Years

Yeah. You read it right. I’m back, bitches.

After a brief sojourn (like...two years) into not covering such fascinating topics as Martha’s elegance, Rose’s scrappy jeans, and River Song’s backwards-forwards style routine, I’m back to discuss Doctor Who and costume design, because we all have things we’re good at and mine is yelling about hemlines! So while we all mourn Bill Potts—please come back to the show, Pearl Mackie, I beg you honest-to-god—let’s throw in a flashback to a long time ago, and play around with CLARA OSWIN OSWALD.

One nasty bit that’s kept me from getting to this post earlier is that Clara’s series 7 arc, thanks to the fragmenting-into-ten-thousand-tiny-pieces bit, is a little hard to view from a “character/costume” perspective. Do I count Oswin as part of her, despite significant differences between "our” Clara and Souffle Girl, or do I view their costume choices separately? What about the Clara from “The Snowmen”? What about the one who ran after Tom Baker in a terrible incident of green-screen-enabled acid reflux?

Lord. Her feet don’t even hit the floor.

So after a lot of debate, I’m counting them, albeit shyly, and without extending to them the same connective layer I generally use between a character’s costume choices. They’re a part of Clara, so I can’t ignore them, but I won’t assume every choice they make extends to our Clara. After all, discussing all those Claras would just be impossible, wouldn’t it?

I know. Great segue, right? Join us, pals, for a new edition of The Companion’s Wardrobe.

When we first meet Oswin, I’m falling over myself because I love her so much. Ok, no, not really. But it’s hard to fend off the charm of this first outfit—it’s a mix of Pure Sex, Geeky Cool Kid, and Perky Sixties Air Stewardess that knocks together a couple diverse style types and leaves us unsure what her whole deal is. There’s the cheeky red dress with the asymmetrical neckline, the rose she tucks behind her ear, the sci-fi tool belt and watch, the youthful-chic sneaker-heels. It goes together, but what ties these into a cohesive character?

Uh, yeah, Os, and if you’re gonna sass me the whole post you can do it in a more productive fashion. What these posts do is analyze—not assume what the designers meant, ever, but take what we know from the dress, delete from our brains our own metas and conjectures and far-flung notions, fling whether we think it’s pretty out the window except for that one rose tyler outfit. it deserved to be sassed, and try to embrace this as Character Translated Into Dress™ (while of course letting insignificant details slide because not EVERYTHING ties into your analysis, dumbass). We’re being told something, here, or else it’s just shitty costume design.

Which is always perfectly possible.

But no, Oswin’s dress is aiming for something: perfection. Everything about this dress is right, but it’s also TOO much. Too clean. Too fun. She’s polished and pretty and happy and comfortable—and none of it could possibly be real, with a Dalek just outside the door. While most of the wrecked passengers we’ve seen in past under-siege dramas have looked a little wrecked, with a dusty spacesuit or a tattered hairstyle to prove it, Oswin’s perfect bouncy curls and scratch-free outfit signal us far before the Doctor does that something is off.

Besides the perfection of this outfit, unstained by real life’s messes, there are other hints of what Oswin’s got going for her. The bright red, like a warning signal, should hit us over the head: every other companion is a mish-mash of different hues and patterns, while Oswin reads like a stop sign. The heeled sneakers I love so much are almost kid-like, if not innocent—as is much of Oswin’s made-up life, as she calls her mum and lounges in her chair. She reads as both red-hot “NO” and a perfect, happy, straight-out-of-Pushing-Daisies “yes.”

It’s no wonder we didn’t know what to make of her the first time she showed up. She was popping into every different direction, and somehow making it work.

The next time we see her, the costumes hit us over the head with how this is the same character. Because guess what? The Lady in Red is back.

Same hair, same low neckline, but a subtler shade of red this time, all over.

I honestly don’t have a lot to say about this outfit (though it’s INCREDIBLY beautiful), except that red immediately marks Clara out as bold, and vivid, and a little bit larger than life. Remember how Rose dipped into dark reds slowly, after growing out of the safer pinks she got from Jackie? Clara’s already there, wearing blood red all over, inciting the Doctor to do something.

Until she isn’t. Count me confused.

I’ve got no answers why her bland young charge picks up her red, or why Clara suddenly wears something that departs so drastically from everything she’s coded into her dress previously. Sure, she’s in “disguise,” but isn’t she closer to her true accent now? Why align herself color-wise with the ice monsters? Why ricochet between blue/green and red to further this split personality deal?

I got no answers. Sorry, lads.

Modern Clara’s still got a touch of that “come on!” red, but it’s minimized. She’s wearing one of those light, tiny-pattern, floaty-fabric things that were SO EVERYWHERE in 2013, but that’s all we get from her. She’s a mystery, dressed in whatever’s currently in fashion, flaunting past a gravestone.

But the lady in red is never gone for long.

This is our first time with Proper Clara, and it lays out the elements of Clara’s personal aesthetic that we’ll see for quite some time. Little, adventuresome boots; black tights; a flimsy little dress with a subtle pattern; a big coat, comfortable and practical. The flying bird necklace is lovely. The skirt has the high-low hem of many skirts from this year; we’ll see one like it again. Aside from the visual shout-out to Dalek Oswin in the red dress/short boots combo, all this aligns with what little we know of Clara at this point—she’s competent at whatever she sets her mind to, she’s young, she's both adventuresome and fashionable; she’s very tidy and put-together.

I’d argue her look is still way more put-together than most normal people achieve—think of Rose’s slapdash jeans or Martha’s tank tops—but if I bite the inside of my cheeks and take deep breaths I can accept this as an outfit most TV costume designers would claim is normal, in the same impeccably-dressed “normal” vein of Iris West. It’s pretty, it’s contemporary, but it doesn’t tell me anything much.

[this briefly-seen outfit, with its cardigan and vintage-y blouse, marks Clara as a sort of pretty-librarian type, though again this look is very in with then-contemporary style.]

Which gets to the root of a problem I have with many of Clara’s outfits in Series 7. Clara is frequently accused of being “boring”—and I firmly believe this has loads to do with the way she dresses, divorced from any opinion on the writing or the plot at this point. Jenna Coleman is an engaging actress, but a lot of the costumes from this era give us a cute, ordinary woman at the expense of furthering her arc in a particular direction.

There are clues, of course. From the quality of her clothes, she’s somewhere in the middle-class range—not quite as effortlessly classy as soon-to-be doctor Martha, but not quite at Rose’s level of street style either. Clara probably reads The Guardian. Those boots aren’t cheap.

Her outfit is very well put together, though it doesn’t push any boundaries of style. Clara is always tied into contemporary fashion, from this point onwards, with her boots and jacket bringing a little frisson of tough to counter the femininity of the dress and bag. The bag’s a sharp, bossy red, and all together it kind of gives us who Clara thinks she is: perfectly turned out, girlish and flirty, tough enough to deal with a crisis, with just a small splash of opinionated red on the side. 

There’s red, again, in the flashback. (side note: how young is her dad????)

“Cold War” mixes it up, though this is still Clara: there’s the slightly flared skirt we’ve seen in the past two looks, and the tough jacket firmly in evidence. I love the buttons up the front, though, and the icy shimmer is a nice departure—a little more glam than we’ve seen before from Clara. Considering Clara thought she was heading to Las Vegas, we can see what she thinks is appropriate for a night out right now: that vaguely-retro 1950s look Taylor Swift started, with a strong streak of cute, but nothing your grandmum would hate. (Amy would have had that skirt at least 6 inches shorter and narrower.) She’s girly and tough.

“Hide” runs along the same lines. (also, bless all these full-costume promo pics.) The gentle cardigan look is back, and aside from the heels it’s all quite demure. It also looks great for the spooky tone of this episode! Incidentally, this is Clara’s third blue outfit in a row, leading me to wonder when we abandoned the vivid red Claras of earlier for these calm, cool, inward-looking young ladies. It’s almost a visual rebuke to the Doctor for seeing her only as the red adventuresses of earlier—those girls were red, sir, but this one is blue, so get your head together and consider the color symbolism.

Oh. Or fuck me for trying, I guess. That works too. Who needs consistency, am I right?

Aside from me throwing myself out the window because the red keeps coming back but I can’t figure out WHY, this dress is a lot like Clara’s others. Her favorite pair of boots is back, and it’s quite buttoned-up and modest, if a little shorter than before. And the tightrope of bold-but-girly continues to be Clara’s calling card, with the minimal jewelry keeping her just on this side of not-too-dressed-up.

It’s telling that she stands out in this episode, though: she’s in stark opposition to the cold blues worn by the Doctor and his TARDIS, a visible antagonist as these two question and frighten her about her right to belong.

“The Crimson Horror” gives us two great Clara looks, which is great because holy shit look what they did to this skirt.

I can’t quite explain what happened here, because for all the world it looks like they took apart a 1910s-style hobble skirt and  threw in a gradient underskirt for the solid reason of Why The Hell Not, but I love it despite it being bonkers-levels of  historically inaccurate.

Then there’s this.

I LOVE THIS TOO, but character-wise I really have to grit my teeth because I don’t get why Clara, ordinary girl from the twenty-first as she seems to be, would have either the knowledge or the inclination to dress her hair in the elaborate fashions of the period.  But it’s a spot-on perfect dress, with none of the historic bumbling Rose managed on her first try. It lacks the super-puff sleeves of the 1890s, but I can live with it because of those fantastic little V’s down the front. It’s perfect.

We’re back in red for “Nightmare in Silver,” and everything’s very much Normal Clara: the little heeled shoes, the slightly flared skirt, the tights and the tough jacket and the trim little collar. With stronger fabric choices, she looks more in control than ever; she’s developed slightly away from the girlishness of those high-low skirts, though that girly quality is still there in the short skirt. Her arc has not been consistently signaled so far in either silhouette or color choices, but this outfit marks Clara as being more in command than ever before.

In the finale, she’s in same silhouette as last time, but new shoes (Clara seemingly adores footwear that combines heels, boots, and little oxford-y things into one package). Compared to her first modern outfit, she’s much more visually controlled—dark-hued, geometrically patterned, no more flounce or flutter. The color scheme is much more similar to the blue/green of the governess outfit, and red’s completely vanished—she couldn’t be farther from the saucy little barmaid act in “The Snowmen.” And yet by the end of the episode, she’s shattered into her—and into a girl with spikes on her jacket, and a girl dressed like Sarah Jane Smith, and a girl and a girl and a girl and a girl.......

I can’t explain this. I’d love to say that Clara coalesces into a firm costume arc over the season, but I can’t find a clear arc without pushing my designer’s brain to untenable conclusions. Through costume, I watched Martha grow from a confident student to a warrior; I watched Rose grow from a thoughtless girl to a brave woman. River developed in ways that suggested where she was going and where she came from, despite the challenges of a plotline her costume designers couldn’t plan for. Series 7 Clara stretches my brain, and I still come up empty. Where was all that red going? Can a change so slight as “pretty girlish” to “a little less so” count as an arc? Did someone not tell Howard Burden the plot, so he couldn’t plan a clearer costume progression? What happened here????

Thankfully, Clara’s not done growing yet, though. Onto the specials!

Clara begins "The Day of the Doctor” in, again, red. I quietly scream because red can be such a dramatic and weighty color and I hate seeing it just pop up for reasons I can’t make sense of. Clara ignores my protests and hops into her adventure.

This outfit’s perfectly within the same realm as Clara’s previous gigs: heeled boots, check; black tights, check; small-print non-geometric pattern on lightweight fabric, all present sir; cheeky red and tough black jacket, reporting for duty. This outfit could have shown up any point in Series 7 and I would have accepted it. Clara’s working as a schoolteacher now (a very chic one), and the whole outfit reads as saucy and cute and just a little badass.

And then “Time of the Doctor.” Oh, I love the “Time of the Doctor” costumes. This is great. This is when Clara starts making sense.

Clara gets two outfits in this: the cheeky yellow-sweater one, and the red-plaid-skirty one. They’re both very twee and pseudo-vintage and Britishy, which is very much in Clara’s realm so far, but they take what Clara’s already had and push it—heartily, extremely, and in a way it’ll never recover from—into bold new territory.

Clara’s style has shifted in this episode. With the proud geometric plaid, the bright red hue, and the overall sharper fit, Clara has absolutely moved on from the girlishness from “The Rings of Akhaten” into something far more confident and controlled. There are significant details: the little infinity-symbols of her cardigan, the spikes on her necklace and bracelets, and the old-fashioned lace on her blouse make an unusual combo that finally distinguishes her from an H&M commercial. It’s strong and decisive, a little bit bossy, with boldness winning out over cute. Fashionable? Yeah! Modern? Always! But powerful, too, taking up the screen with tight shapes and controlled blocks of color.

The yellow sweater and leather skirt hit the same notes. The feminine flutter of early Series 7 is truly gone; without changing Clara’s style completely, the smack-you-in-the-face mustard sweater and the edge of the leather angle her away from “feminine adventuress” into “adventurer femme.” The priorities shift. It’s the signal of where Clara is going from here—into deeper, darker territory.

So, what do we take from this? Though Clara started out as a bit of a cipher—thanks to red dresses leading us in one direction, and then cute little floral pattern outfits taking us in another—over Series 7 Clara gradually came together as a bolder, more in-command character, and even started to develop a style of her own that verged beyond the norm. Where could that take us in Series 8? How will her costumes change to interact with an entirely new Doctor? Will I ever get to see that bird pendant necklace again? (yes.) Who knows! I’ll have to write a post about it!

Whatever happens, it’s going to be an awfully big adventure.

[Got thoughts & questions? Come at me! I love talking about costume, and anyway I had to edit this post extensively to even get it to post, so I couldn’t even mention things people might wonder about. LORD I LOVE COSTUME DESIGN SO MUCH.]

[annieboltonworld]

Juniper Publishers- Open Access Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources

Integration of Electrical Resistivity and Ground Penetrating Radar Methods for Site Characterization: a Case study of Ajibode Area, Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria

Authored by Adelekan AO

Abstract

Integrated geophysical investigation involving Electrical Resistivity(ER) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) techniques were carried out around a site underlined by Basement Complex rocks of southwestern Nigeria. The study was aimed at imaging the subsurface lithological units and delineating shallow geologic structures for the purpose of characterizing the area for construction suitability. A total of twenty five (25) Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) data using Schlumberger array, ten (10) traverses of Electrical Resistivity Imaging (ERI) using Wenner array and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys were carried out along the established traverse lines within the area. The VES data were quantitatively interpreted using partial curve matching technique and subsequently improve upon by inversion software using IPI2Win, to obtain the layer geoelectric parameters. The ERI data was inverted and interpreted using Res2Dinv and Res3Dinv inversion software's respectively to generate 2-D and 3-D resistivity image of the subsurface.The GPR data was processed into radar section using RadExplorer software. Vertical electrical sounding results delineates typically three to four geologic layers which are the topsoil/lateritic hardpan, weathered basement (consisting clay and sandy clay) and fractured/ fresh basement with layer resistivity value ranges of 10 - 2684 Ωm, 12 - 242 Ωm and 229 - 3213 Ωm respectively and thickness value ranges of 0.5 - 2.1 m and 4.0 - 14.1 m respectively. 2-D inverted resistivity results also delineated three major geologic layers which are the topsoil, weathered basement and fresh basement and correlates well with the results obtained from the VES results. Layers 1 to 3 of 3-D inverted resistivity slice results show high degree of variation in resistivity distribution at shallow depth, consisting of highly resistive material towards the eastern part with low resistivity material concentrating at the south-western part. Results of the GPR survey also delineated three to four geologic layers which include the topsoil/lateritic hardpan, weathered basement and fractured/fresh basement. The study area was categorized to have semi-competent to competent basement rock based on the resistivity value of the underlying material within the area. Bedrock depression delineated at some location could pose threat of differential settlement to construction works within the study area. Thus, it should be ensured that foundation is designed to sit comfortably on the competent bedrock or by employing suitable foundation work, such as piling to ensure foundation stability and prevent structural failure. Thus, electrical resistivity and ground penetrating radar techniques are versatile tools in site characterization.

Introduction

The growing rate in damage of structures such as road, buildings, dam and bridges has assumed an alarming dimension Elawadi et al. [1]. The need for pre-foundation studies has therefore become imperative before any structure is laid so as to prevent loss of lives and also goods and properties. Some earth materials such as sands and fresh rock provide firm support for solid foundation while other host material due to their nature cannot support solid and rigid structures Coker et al. [2]. Such improperly sited structures have failed due to lateral and vertical in homogeneity in the subsurface earth materials Carlsten et al. [3], Adewumi and Olorunfemi [4] and Oladapo et al. [5]. Such fallout can however be prevented when necessary information aimed at better understanding the subsurface geometry and structural setting is available Fayemi and Adepelumi [6]. Geophysical investigation is one of the methods used in probing the subsurface for any construction activities. The deduced soil characteristics are used as preliminary information to determine the suitability of the site for a proposed structure. If this crucial step is omitted, concealed geologic features within the subsurface may precipitate excessive total or differential settlement leading to failure or collapse of structures Fatoba et al. [7].Geophysical methods that have been found useful in pre-and post-construction geotechnical investigations include Electrical Resistivity, Seismic Refraction and Electromagnetic methods including the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) among others Roth et al. [8], Elawadi et al. [1], Akintorinwa et al. [9] and Fayemi and Adepelumi [6]. The main objective of this work was to investigate subsurface stratigraphic and structural setting of the study area and to define its competency for construction purposes using Electrical Resistivity and Ground Penetrating Radar methods.

 Description And Geological Setting

The study area, Ajibode is located in the North central part of Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria with Latitudes 7° 28" 32.6"" and 7° 28" 36.6" North of the Equator and Longitudes 3° 53" 20.7"" and 3° 53" 25.3"" East of the Greenwich Meridian (Figure 1). It shares boundaries with the University of Ibadan and orogun communities at the south and at the north with IITA, Ojoo and Shasha communities of Ibadan. The geology of the study area, Ibadan is the subset of the geology of the southwestern part of Nigeria. The dominant rock types in this region are granite, quartz schist of meta sedimentary series, banded gneiss, granite gneiss, augen gneiss and migmatite complex (Figure 1).Quartzite outcrops as ridges with relatively high elevation with schistose structure. The strike line runs in the N-S direction between 340° and 350° consistently dipping eastwards with characteristic cross-cutting features Olayinka and Olayiwola [10], with dip angle of 47°E and characterized by joints and faults in some cases Akuma [11]. Field investigations of Ajibode area showed three main rock types which are banded gneiss, granite gneiss and augen gneiss Oyediran and Adeyemi [12] with the presence of fractures along the general strike of the rock (Figure 2). Banded gneiss occurs at the extreme east and west running south-east of the study area. The general strike of banded gneiss is NNW-SSE while the dips range from 420 to 530 east. The rock is medium grained, crystalline and contorted. The study area is well drained by river ona and its tributaries. The drainage pattern is dendritic with irregular branching in all directions. The river flows in the southwestern direction and forms the boundary between the University of Ibadan campus and Ajibode village in the northern part.

Methodology

A total of ten (10) traverse lines were obtained with five (5) lines each in approximately NW-SE and NE-SW directions along which Electrical Resistivity and Ground Penetrating Radar data were acquired (Figure 3). Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) data was acquired using Schlumberger electrode array. A total of twenty five (25) VES stations were occupied with each located at the grid points of the traverse line within the study area. The spread length of current electrode ranges from 1.0 up to 100 m in successive steps. Wenner array was employed for Electrical Resistivity Imaging (ERI) with spacing between adjacent electrodes represented by „a", all the possible measurement made with Wenner array is of electrode spacing of “na” where n = 1, 2....5 and „a" = 5 m. GPR data was acquired using “Mala RAMAC / GPR” geophysical survey equipment. The equipment consists of radar antennae housed in a box attached to the survey wheel which rolled along the traverse lines. The box was connected to the computer monitor unit which automatically recorded and store the data as the survey wheel is being moved across the study area. The survey was carried out using two different antenna frequencies (250 MHz and 500 MHz) with antenna separation of 0.36 m and 0.18 m respectively. The start and end time ranges between 168 - 210 ns and 0 - 100 ns respectively for both 250 MHz and 500 MHz antenna frequencies and the mode of constant component is taken as “mean”. The direct wave velocities were recorded as 30 cm/ns and the operation length as 52 ns for both frequencies. The GPR data positioning was calibrated using survey wheel.Vertical Electrical Sounding data were interpreted by partial curve matching technique Keller and Frischknecht [13] with the result of the layer resistivity parameters derived from the partial curve matching technique being (Figures 2 & 3) used as the initial interpretation of the field curves for the computer inversion using IPI2 Win software. Forward inversion modeling technique using regularized least-square optimization method Loke et al. [14] of Res2Dinv and Res3Dinv inversion software's were used in the interpretation of the 2-D and 3-D data. GPR data was processed using “RadExplorer V1.4 software” [15] package which is commercially available. The processing parameters applied, as made available by the software” and that which gives acceptable result on the radargram includes: DC removal, Time zero adjustment, Band pass filtering and Amplitude correction.

Results and Discussion

Vertical Electrical Sounding Results

Quantitative interpretation of the VES curves resulted in determination of geoelectric layer parameters (layer resistivity and thickness) for the subsurface characterization. Based on the approximate range of resistivity values of common rock types Kearey et al. [16] and correlation with the pit information (having lithology ranging from topsoil/lateritic hardpan-weathered basement-basement rock) within the study area, three major geologic layers were delineated from the geoelectric layer parameters obtained from the study area (Figure 4) and these includes the topsoil/lateritic hardpan, weathered basement (clayey/sandy clay) and fractured/fresh basement. A summary of the VES interpretation is shown on (Table 1).Electrical Resistivity Imaging Results2-D Wenner data results were presented as an inverted model resistivity section representing the image of the subsurface along each established traverse line within the study area. This shows both lateral and vertical variations in resistivity of the subsurface material. The 2-D inverted resistivity sections generated along NW-SE and NE-SW (Figure 5) respectively within the study area delineated three major subsurface layers which are; the topsoil, weathered basement and basement rock. The inverted resistivity model section delineated topsoil layer with high degree of variations in resistivity value ranging between 10 and 1000 Ωm and layer thickness of approximately 3.5 m.Some areas of the topsoil have high resistivity value and are presumed to be dominated by lateritic hardpan material (T3, T7 and T8). The topsoil is underlined by a conductive material characterized by <100 Ωm resistivity which shows typically a clay-rich material and similar to the range established for similar geological provinces by Kearey et al. [16]. The thickness of the second layer ranges from 2 - 8 m, but could not be ascertained beneath some of the traverse lines as it forms depression into the basement. Such depressions were noticed beneath traverse line T3, T7, T8 and T10. The depressions are noticed at horizontal distance 35 - 45 m beneath traverse lines T3 and T7, between horizontal distance 35 and 60 m beneath T8 and at horizontal distance 40-55 m beneath T10. The weathered layer is underlined by basement rock with characteristic resistivity value of about 200 - 9036 Ωm. The depth to competent basement rock delineated by 2-D inverted resistivity results within the area is approximately about 11 m, but could not be ascertained beneath regions where the weathered basement forms depression into the basement. Inverted resistivity section for traverse lines T3, T5, T7, T8 and T10 (Figure 5) generally show a continuous trend of depression into the basement which cut across the traverse lines (Figures 4 & 5) (Table 1).The data acquired along all the ten gridded traverse lines with 2-D Wenner profile were combined to produce the slice depth and a collective 3-D view of the inverted resistivity models (Figure 6) for all the traverse lines (T1 to T10). X and Y coordinates represent the NW-SE and NE-SW directions respectively with slices been made along Z-direction to a maximum depth of 21.9 m. Layers 1 to 3 shows high degree of variations in resistivity distribution at shallow depth revealing formation consisting of highly resistive topsoil material (lateritic hardpan) at the eastern part with low resistivity (highly conductive) material concentrating at the south-western part of the study area. The high resistivity variations are attributable to the heterogeneity and unpredictable nature of the geology of a typical basement complex Adelusi et al. [17]. Material with characteristics blue to green colour bands having resistivity value of <100 Ωm is presumed to be weathered unit and is seen to be consistent across all the slices with an approximately NE - SW trend. Also, the underlain material within the area was presumed to be basement rock and was delineated by layers 4 - 6 with depth range of 8.68 - 21.9 m showing highly resistive material characterized by red to pink colour bands towards the southern part of the area with resistivity values of >200 Ωm. The resistivity value within this region increases with layer depth.Ground Penetrating Radar ResultsRadar section results for 250 MHz antenna frequency as represented by traverse line 2 (Figure 7) respectively was able to image up to 10 m depth within the study area. Four radar facies were recognized and correlated to their lithological equivalence in geolectric section and pit information within the study area. The upper layer (above the red dotted lines) shows high amplitude, parallel and horizontal reflections with good continuity and is interpreted as topsoil Knight [18] and Win et al. [19]. The thickness is approximately 0.7 m across the entire 250 MHz antenna frequency profiles. This is underlain by high amplitude, sub-parallel and chaotic with moderately continuous reflection characterized to be lateritic hardpan (between red and yellow dotted lines) across the 250 MHz antenna frequency profiles with thickness range between 0.3 m and 2 m except beneath traverse line 5 where the layer is absent. The third layer (between yellow and green dotted lines) depicts the weathered unit (clay/sandy clay) with low to moderate reflection amplitude, parallel and horizontal reflection with poor continuity and ranges in thickness between 4 m and about 8 m along the entire traverse lines. The weathered layer is underlain by fresh basement (from green dotted lines to infinity) consisting of low reflection amplitude with poor continuity and depth to fresh bedrock ranging from 6 m to 8.5 m across the traverse lines (Figures 6 & 7).Figure 8, radar section for traverse line 8 shows a representative radar section result using 500 MHz antenna frequency. The antenna frequency generally delineated a maximum depth of 5 m. Three radar facies were recognized and correlated to the lithological equivalence from geoelectric section and pit information obtained within the study area. The high amplitude, parallel, horizontal and continuous reflections characterized by the upper layer (above red dotted lines) is interpreted as the topsoil with approximate depth of < 0.5 m across the entire 500 MHz radar section traverse lines. The second layer (between red and yellow dotted lines) was interpreted as lateritic hardpan with high amplitude, chaotic reflectivity and moderate continuity with approximate thickness of 1.5 m except for traverse line 5 where lateritic hardpan was not delineated. The last layer (beneath yellow dotted lines) is characterized by low to moderate amplitude, parallel and horizontal reflection with moderate continuity and is interpreted within the area as weathered basement with depth at infinity (Figure 8).Integrated InterpretationFigures 9 & 10 shows representative correlation of the geophysical results obtained within the study area. After careful examination of all the results, the 2-D resistivity models and ground penetrating radar section results interpreted beneath the traverse lines show some similarity. The 2-D inverted resistivity sections, geoelectric section and radar section correlates well based on the delineated lithological sequences, approximate layer depth and structures underlying the study area.Both techniques were able to delineate three to four geologic layers which include the topsoil/lateritic hardpan, weathered basement and fractured/fresh basement. The boundary between the weathered basement and fresh basement could not be effectively defined on the radar section, presumably due to the attenuation of radar signal by the conductive layer (clay- rich weathered basement) that overlies the fresh basement. The results of the 250 MHz antenna frequency was able to confirm the basement and it penetrates a depth of 10 m while the 500 MHz antenna frequency terminates within the weathered basement, as it penetrates a depth of 5 m. The 500 MHz antenna frequency gives better resolution of the subsurface information than the 250 MHz antenna frequency. Electrical resistivity results were able to map the lithological sequences within the area, the presumed depression into bedrock and the direction along which the depression is trending. GPR results were able to delineate only the lithological sequences and could not ascertain the structural information due to low radar signal strength that gets to the bedrock.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Integrated geophysical techniques involving Vertical Electrical Sounding, Electrical Resistivity Imaging and Ground Penetrating Radar have been adopted in this study around Ajibode, southwestern Nigeria. The result of the Electrical Resistivity (ER) investigation has effectively delineated the subsurface geological information and gives detailed description of lithological setting within the area.It was observed from the ER surveys that depth to competent basement varies across the study area with shallow depth towards the south-southeastern direction and as deep as 22 m towards the northwestern direction where presumed depression into the basement are delineated on resistivity data.Thus, the area under study can be categorized to have semi-competent to competent basement rock considering the resistivity distribution of the underlying bedrock and the pit information from the area. The nature of the overlying material (clay-rich material) and depression into the bedrock at some location could pose threat of differential settlement to engineering construction works. Therefore, it should be ensured that subsurface regions where depressions were noticed are avoided when sitting mega structures. Moreover for construction works within the area, foundation should be designed to sit comfortably on a competent bedrock or by employing suitable foundation method (such as piling) to ensure the stability of any proposed structure in the area in other to avoid foundation failure. Reliable information about the lithological characteristics of the study area has been deduced from the results of this research work. Thus, electrical resistivity methods and ground penetrating radar are versatile tools in shallow engineering site characterization and should therefore be incorporated in any pre-foundation or geotechnical investigation for better understanding of the subsurface geology.

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[theworstbob]

yellin’ at songs: week 31

brief reviews of the songs that debuted on the 8.9.1997, 8.11.2007, and 8.12.2017 editions of the billboard hot 100

8.9.1997

10) "Never Make a Promise," by Dru Hill

See, the thing about this R&B song in which a person makes an eternal promise that separates it from all the other dozens I've heard in the past couple of weeks is, goddamnit I was really hoping I would come up with a joke by the time I got to the conjunction, I figured, y'know, I'd get the ball rolling, get some momentum, y'know? If I started saying words in the cadence of a joke, I would get with the program and sort of involuntarily make a joke. I see now the folly in my ways. I should've been better prepared for 1997. I knew milquetoast R&B was in store. I dropped the ball on this one, and dropped it in such a way that it did not start rolling, to tie it back to a metaphor from earlier. I promise to do better. And uh, fun fact about me, I never make a promise I won't keep.

87) "Down for Yours," by Nastyboy Klick ft./Roger Troutman

Pitch the Auto-tune a little lower, put in a few of those drums what sound like a dude roiling his rs to imitate a machine gun, and this is a perfectly acceptable 2017 pop/rap song. I just wanna real quick address something: I know I said last week that every 1997 rapper, short Magoo, was better than the best 2017 rapper, but I was speaking in terms of pop/rap. Like, if you only go by what charted, which is a mistake for so... so many reasons, 1997 rap is better? But once -- I mean, the Kendrick and Jay albums were fire, but more importantly, you've got folks like Vince Staples and Brother Ali and Joey Bada$$ and Lupe Fiasco and SZA making awesome, challenging works that aren't gonna chart. These charts are at once a sample of music history and the poorest imaginable representation of music history. Anyhoo, I don't know what previously held the title of 'most innocuous song to throw Bob into an existential tailspin over the general utility of the YAS project,' but it belongs to this dumb sack of song now!

90) "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up," by Lisa Stansfield

Hey: if nothing else, clicking on this edition of YAS 7s should give you a fun and cool new way to Rickroll your friends. Add a meta layer to your Rickroll game. I know this isn't actually a comment on the song, because how could anyone be aware of memes in 1997? All these songs predate Hamsterdance. Someone should have told Lisa Stansfield there was already a song called this, though. Anyhoo, I'm not actually talking about these songs at all. They're boring! This is probably the most okay song so far, but I'm putting it out of my mind to think about a boring meme about a boring song.

92) "Drink, Swear, Steal, & Lie" by Michael Peterson

aw this guy's just a big ol' dork. i love him! ii love his dork ass song about how in love with his girl he is. this song has one joke and it's still a vastly more complex and well-written song than any pi[50,000 word treatise on bro country redacted]anyway, this dude's great. like, i'm a pop/punk main, y'know? i love dorky and earnest jams. this hits that button squarely, y'all. i'm so into this.

only publishing the 1997 top 20 because changes happen with the other two and i value consistency

20) "Step by Step," by Whitney Houston (3.15) 19) "Can We," by SWV ft./Missy Elliott (8.2) 18) "On and On," by Erykah Badu (1.25) 17) "I Want You," by Savage Garden (3.1) 16) "It Must Be Love," by Robin S. (5.24) 15) "Smokin' Me Out," by Warren G ft./Ronald Isley (6.21) 14) "Fix," by BLACKstreet ft./Ol' Dirty Bastard (8.2) 13) "Silent All These Years," by Tori Amos (3.22) 12) "What They Do," by The Roots (1.11) 11) "Step Into a World (Rapture's Delight)," by KRS-One (4.5) 10) "I'm Not Feeling You," by Yvette Michele (2.22) 9) "Bill," by Peggy Scott-Adams (3.29) 8) "Just Another Case," by CRU ft./Slick Rick (7.5) 7) "I'll Be," by Foxy Brown ft./Jay-Z (2.15) 6) "Felton St.," Leschea (6.14) 5) "Bitch," by Meredith Brooks (4.26) 4) "Mo Money, Mo Problems," by The Notorious B.I.G. ft./Puff Daddy & Mase (8.2) 3) "Return of the Mack," by Mark Morrison (3.1) 2) "Hypnotize," by The Notorious B.I.G. (4.26) 1) "Not Tonight (Ladies' Night Remix)," by Lil Kim ft./Angie Martinez, Left Eye, Da Brat & Missy Elliott (7.12)

8.11.2007

47) "Stronger," Kanye West

Graduation is such a goofy album because it has three of the best Kanye singles of all time, including what, let's be real, probably ends up as the best song from 2007, but it's also Kanye's worst and least interesting album. It's Kanye at a crossroads, stuck between being the pop/rap god and the morose Auto-tune sadlord who makes 808s and MBDTF. This song actually finds Kanye at the perfect point in the crossroads. He's still making a towering achievement for the mainstream, but he's breaking out of being chop up the soul Kanye, moving into electronic territory, developing his sound into that direction in a way that doesn't quite sound like MBDTF but sounds like the first step on that road. It'd be a bold experiment if it didn't absolutely work, and this is an amazing song by any objective measure.

65) "Cyclone," Baby Bash ft./T-Pain

Man maybe I just haven't noticed it yet or maybe I'm just coming down from the "Stronger" high, but I forgot how horrible the generic crunk beat was to listen to. It hasn't been quite so prevalent, but heck whoever gave this dude the Lil Jon MP3s. I will say that T-Pain making noises to describe what it feels like when a woman dips it low is the tiniest little miracle of a thing, but boy, is my life not better with this song in it. OK I just got to the part where T-Pain makes that noise three times in a row, this song is an achievement in Western art and culture and the world is saved.

83) "Love Me if You Can," Toby Keith

who the fuck listens to toby keith for the ballads like who is this for who thinks of this song when they think of toby keith no legit dude just make dumbass party jams i don't get why this would ever need to exist

84) "Take Me There," Rascal Flatts

Like legit why would you give "Love Me if You Can" to Toby Keith when Rascal Flatts is literally right there. Songs like "Love Me if You Can" and this treacly pile of love song are why you made Rascal Flatts in the first place. I also enjoy the twist this puts on The Country Song. I don't think anyone ever came to Rascal Flatts for Authentic Country Music, so them saying they want the girl to take them to Main Street and the backroads is actually kinda sweet. Like, they're not posturing, they're saying, "Yeah, we're clearly city softboys, but we wanna see the small town blue jean nights that made my girl." Rascal Flatts: generally inoffensive yet again! They just keep comin'!

89) "Proud of the House We Built," Brooks & Dunn

I like this song because it reminded me of The Wonder Years' "Teenage Parents," and I appreciate the opportunity to think about The Wonder Years. I dunno, country hasn't really been problematic this week! This song is almost good! It's just a nice look back on life. "Yeah, it kinda sucked, butcha know what, we made it." Maybe it could've acknowledged that the tough times sucked instead of looking back smiling and saying, "I wouldn't have it any other way?" Hard times suck, dude. I know you haven't heard that Paramore jam yet, but hard times suck and you shouldn't idealize them. Especially when, you know, you're a millionaire, and people who are actually going through hard times are listening to you and saying, "Welp, guess this is my station in life!" Hey Bob you're going on a treatise on the sociological implications of bro country, and you are actually unable to write that. Please write about JoBros.

92) "Hold On," Jonas Brothers

What a week for songs named after far more notable '80s jams! (Actually Wilson Phillips w)I LOOKED IT UP AND DECIDED I DIDN'T CARE anyway did anyone else forget that Jonas Brothers are like legit songwriters? Like, this is definitely as good as any Simple Plan song, and Simple Plan was like a decade older than these kids. Does Simple Plan make good music? That's beside the point, which is that Jonas Brothers was never garbage. They were always making highly enjoyable pop/rock songs for the whole family, and they were capable of making these songs from an extraordinarily young age. We could've done worse, is what I'm trying to get at. Like, we had it pretty got dang good with the JoBros, friends! There's a world where JoBros fades into semi-obscurity and makes highly enjoyable Christian rock with Hanson, and also no one ever makes "Jealous," and that's a pretty OK alternate reality, that one.

100) "Hood Nigga," Gorilla Zoe

The most optimistic sentence on Wikipedia is, "This is Gorilla Zoe's only top 40 hit on that chart, to date." This song ain't bad! It would've been a fine #1 in some of those weeks where the best song was like "Do it Just Like a Rock Star." He has this really fun and gruff voice, maybe a little laconic but certainly pleasant to put in the ears, the beat is, as the kids might have said in 2007, knockin', and we have certainly heard worse things! Also the radio edit replaces N with F and of all the letters to replace the N, F is easily the funniest, because now this song is about a dude who can't get enough figs in his life. Fuck Cristal, this dude's got a Fig Newton cabinet.

New #1 hype! 20) "Lip Gloss," by Lil Mama (6.9.2007) 19) "Stolen," by Dashboard Confessional (4.21.2007) 18) "Beautiful Liar," by Beyonce & Shakira (3.31.2007) 17) "Cupid's Chokehold," by Gym Class Heroes ft./Patrick Stump (1.13.2007) 16) "The River," by Good Charlotte ft./M. Shadows & Synyster Gates (2.10.2007) 15) "Say OK," by Vanessa Hudgens (2.17.2007) 14) "Alyssa Lies," by Jason Michael Carroll (1.13.2007) 13) "Never Again," by Kelly Clarkson (5.12.2007) 12) "Can't Tell Me Nothing," by Kanye West (6.16.2007) 11) "Get Buck," by Young Buck (4.14.2007) 10) "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," by Jennifer Hudson (1.13.2007) 9) "Thnks fr th Mmrs," by Fall Out Boy (4.28.2007) 8) "Candyman," by Christina Aguilera (1.13.2007) 7) "Misery Business," by Paramore (7.21.2007) 6) "Because of You," by Ne-Yo (3.17.2007) 5) "Umbrella," by Rihanna ft./Jay-Z (4.28.2007) 4) "Beautiful Flower," by India.Arie (6.16.2007) 3) "Dashboard," by Modest Mouse (2.17.2007) 2) "The Story," by Brandi Carlile (4.28.2007) 1) "Stronger," by Kanye West (8.11.2007) Hey guess what the alt-country song doesn’t end up being Record of the Year 2017. Also I made a minor adjustment to #20 because Lil Mama is going to stay around as long as I feel I cannot bop her in good conscience.

8.12.2017

40) "Back to You," by Louis Tomlinson ft./Bebe Rexha & Digital Farm Animals

Huh, well, I think I mind this the least of all the One Direction side projects! I'm down for a duet, even if this is just a little too low-key to ever attain Iconic Duet status -- drunk folks and karaoke wanna shout about love, and while I'm sure they'll appreciate the "you fuck me... up" phrasing, you're not giving them a lot to work wth. I've never minded Bebe Rexha as little as I do here, and just like in his boyhood, Louis Tomlinson doesn't do anything to ruin everything. This was passable. I wouldn't mind hearing this again, I wouldn't mind if a thousand lives were lived before I heard it again.

61) "What's My Name," by China Anne McClain 81) "It's Goin' Down," Descendants 2 Cast

Listen. Am I upset that this young woman's villain song does not in any way hearken back to "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in any way? Of course. Am I 15 years aged out of the target market for this song? I mean fucking obviously, I knew we'd be treading in these waters eventually. These are fine generic pop songs, the only true flaw in any being the fact someone looked at purple-haired girl and said, "She should be in a rap battle. I think she could convincingly hold her own in a rap battle," like I'm sorry sweetie you have an abundance of other talents and zero bars. It's charming. It's charming! Listen. Am I ready for China Anne McClain to rule the world for five yet-to-be-determined years in the future? Yes. Do I love Captain Hook's gay son? I LOVE CAPTAIN HOOK'S GAY SON

77) "Issues," by Meek Mill 79) "Wins & Losses," by Meek Mill 83) "1942 Flows," by Meek Mill 96) "We Ball," by Meek Mill ft./Young Thug 97) "Fuck That Check Up," by Meek Mill ft./Lil Uzi Vert 99) "Heavy Heart," by Meek Mill

So if I'm rating the theme weeks of 2017: 1) Kendrick Week 2) Jay-Z Week 3) Future Week 4) Meek Mill Week 5) Migos Week 6) Ed Sheeran Week 7) Big Sean Week 8) Drake Week 9) Bryson Tiller Week I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed these songs. Like, I'm actually adding the Meek Mill album to the library for future listening. "1942 Flows" and "Wins & Losses" are legit, they're engaging songs and Meek Mill brings passion to them, and maybe I'm just unfamiliar with the rest of Meek Mill's catalogue, but I honestly didn't expect to be involved in these songs. This seems like a fine album with which to kill a summer bus ride or two. Like, I can't remember the last time I heard a song with a Young Thug feature where I wasn't paying more attention to what Young Thug was doing. Meek Mill did fine work. (Worth noting: Wins & Losses is 15 minutes longer than DAMN., and I am curious what makes Meek Mill think he has 15 minutes' more of worthwhile thought than Kendrick.)

91) "Imitadora," by Romeo Santos

It was "Heroe Favorito," right, where I said I might enjoy Romeo Santos' whole thing on another day, when I was ready to accept him into my life? WELL HOT DIGGITY, Y'ALL, 'CUZ TODAY'S THAT DAY. I love his breathy falsetto thing over this song way more, it just fits. I'm also in love with this track, this gentle Latin guitar with occasional blasts of indie platformer main menu music. I don't know a better term to express what I mean because I'm bad at music, but these synth blasts play in the intro and outro and occasionally come back and they just take this track to another level. This is just phenomenal work from someone I now understand to be a veteran in the scene from the past seven months of limited engagement with the world of Latin pop.

I changed the top of the 2017 Top 20 again. 20) "Bodak Yellow," by Cardi B (7.22) 19) "Woman," by Kesha ft./The Dap-Kings Horns (8.5) 18) "Smile," by Jay-Z ft./Gloria Carter (7.29) 17) "Love Galore," by SZA ft./Travis Scott (7.1) 16) "Bad Liar," by Selena Gomez (6.3) 15) "DNA." by Kendrick Lamar (5.6) 14) "It Ain't Me," by Kygo x Selena Gomez (3.4) 13) "Craving You," by Thomas Rhett ft./Maren Morris (4.22) 12) "That's What I Like," by Bruno Mars (3.4) 11) "Chanel," by Frank Ocean ft./A$AP Rocky (4.1) 10) "Strangers," by Halsey ft./Lauren Jauregui (6.17) 9) "Either Way," by Chris Stapleton (5.27) 8) "Run Up," by Major Lazer ft./PARTYNEXTDOOR & Nicki Minaj (2.18) 7) "Imitadora," by Romeo Santos (8.12) 6) "Green Light," by Lorde (3.18) 5) "Hard Times," by Paramore (5.13) 4) "ELEMENT." by Kendrick Lamar (5.6) 3) "Despacito," by Luis Fonsi ft./Daddy Yankee (2.4) 2) "iSpy," by KYLE ft./Lil Yachty (1.14) 1) "Issues," by Julia Michaels (2.11) Like #1 should be a mix of Most Impactful Song and Song I Enjoyed Most, and maybe #1 justifiably belongs to “Despacito” given how great that is, I’m still getting a lot of mileage out of “Issues,” and honestly as long as I’m not keeping up this silly idea that a song that was #90 for one week is the most iconic song of the year this useless list has at least some utility. Shoutout to the true heroes Paramore, though. And also Major Lazer, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Nicki Minaj. I will never fucking forget you guys.

Who won the week?

2017 actually put up a rather strong fight, but there was no way Meek Mill and the Descendants 2 soundtrack were going to take down “Stronger,” even when it was being weighed down with Toby Keith. 2007 had a couple strong punches, and it was more than able to notch another point. 2017: 11 1997: 11 2007: 9 In next week’s post, we get to listen to Spice Girls AND Billy Joel, 2007 gives us Luke Bryan AND Robin Thicke, and I don’t know what fresh hell 2017 has in store but evidently Tay Tay collaborated with B.O.B. at some point in the recent past and it’s gonna be real fun to deal with B.O.B. the popular musician should it come to that. What an unproblematic and unremarkable artist who has precisely zero bad opinions which he expresses loudly!

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Learn how to make Baklava rolls your favorite Middle Eastern Mediterranean dessert with Phyllo sheets|Easy recipe for Baklava rolls

Baklava, crunchy dessert with addictive flavors and beautiful layered texture. It is a traditional treat made with phyllo sheets, layered with butter. The sweet factor of baklava comes from the flavored sugar and honey syrup.

It is an ultimate crowd pleaser and easy to make for big gatherings. Be it Diwali, Holi or Thanksgiving, this dessert get’s a thumbs up from all age groups.

Trust me it is highly addictive and we love this flaky dessert!!

History of Baklava

The origin of Baklava is undocumented and hence controversial. Some believe that it originated in Greece in third century BC, but

Baklava is popular in Mediterranean countries, Middle East and now it is widely accepted in America and many Asian countries.In USA, one can see  stores loaded with the packs and packs of scrumptious crunchy pastry filled with nuts and sweetened with sugar or honey syrup.

Baklava in ancient times was made only on special occasions and it was called as rich man’s dessert. But now with changing times it has gained popularity and one even order online also packs of Baklava.

In the countries where it is popular , Baklava is prepared in many variations with different filings and cut into different shapes. Traditionally, people prepare homemade pastry sheets with different fillings like walnuts, pistachio, almonds and hazelnuts. Phyllo sheets are easily available in many countries now so people can make it at home too. Phyllo in Greek means ‘leaf’, these sheets are as thin as leaf and this thinness give Baklava it;s characteristic crunch (Please Note..Above information from various online resources).

I tried my hands on making Baklava for the first while doing my Patisserie course. I never tried making it at home as making Phyllo dough is quite time consuming. Also immediately after doing my course we shifted to US. Here in US, fortunately we get Phyllo dough sheets and made it 1-2 times on special occasions like potlucks.

Recently I made these for Diwali. But could not take pics as, I took it for potluck. But this week when Archana from my face Foodie Bloghop group suggested the Mediterranean Theme, I decided to make Baklava as I still had a pack in my freezer.

Archana blogs at The Mad Scientist Kitchen and you must go and checkout her blog for lots of healthy and nutritious dishes , baking stuff that you will love, which easy and quick to prepare too.

I made Baklava Rolls as I had decided to do the post on Diwali but could not do it. then a few of the Mediterranean recipes are on the blog..

Do check these dishes from the Mediterranean cuisine..

Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Tomato Soup, Chickpea and Couscous Soup, Rosemary Foccacia with Cherries, Refreshing Greek Salad, Vegetable Pizza, Falafel with Mint yogurt dip, Hummus, Tzatziki,

A little about Mediterranean Cuisine

Mediterranean Cuisine is the food culture of countries on shores of the Mediterranean Sea which connect many cultures together. The countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea  are Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco; Malta and Cyprus are island countries in the sea.

Among the vegetarian ingredients Wheat, Olives, cheese, Yogurt, Nuts like Walnuts, Pistachios, Almonds are used widely in these countries. Lentils and legumes  like chickpeas, whole/split Red Lentil, Black Eyed Peas and lentils are commonly used in salads, stews and soups and falafels.

Herbs and spices like rosemary, Oregano, thyme  along with garlic are widely used for flavor.

Among the desserts there is Gelato, Tiramisu,Olive oil cakes in various flavors like orange.

How to make Baklava Rolls

For me Baklava Rolls are much more easier to assemble and then cut, store and serve, instead of the layered shapes.

If you think it is quite a task to make it at home, trust me.. once you do it,, you will never go back again to the store-bought packs.Only condition is that you should have ready-made Phyllo sheets and it is ready within a few hours. You can make it 2-3 days ahead of your parties and get-togethers, at-least 5-6 hrs before serving.

While using Phyllo sheets we have to carefully handle the sheets so that it doesn’t tear or dry out. Some points that can help..

Keep the frozen Phyllo sheets in refrigerator to thaw 7-8 hrs before using.

Try not to freeze again the thawed sheets.

Carefully take out each sheet while working. Do not pat the sheets with force, gently place once sheet above the other.

carefully apply butter with a brush on the sheets, take care these don’t tear apart.

Keep the rest of the sheets covered with a damp kitchen towel so that the sheets don’t dry.

Another recipe where you can use Phyllo sheets for savory snack .. Spanakopita

There are three main steps while making Baklava

Prepare nuts..

You can choose nuts of your choice for filling Baklava.. Walnuts, Pistachios, Almonds, Cashew nuts or Hazelnuts. Coarsely grind nuts in food processor or use a knife or rolling pin.

Mix coarse nut powder with sugar. I avoided that as for us sugar syrup gives enough sweetness. Store bought baklava are too sweet for us. So, when I make at home I skip sugar in filling or add very little.

You can spread any chocolate spread like hazelnut(nutella) for a different taste, Kids love this way.

Next part is layering the phyllo sheets. Melt butter and spread on each sheet. Lightly coat butter on sheets do not over use it.

Make Sugar Honey Syrup

Mix sugar, honey/maple syrup in water and boil for few minutes. Let it cool and then drizzle on baked and warm Baklava rolls.

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Prepare Baklava Rolls

I used a single pack with around 30 sheets.

For each Baklava Roll we need to layer 3 phyllo sheets . for that, take one sheet first, lightly brush butter on it.

Next carefully keep the other 2 sheets likewise and brush butter on it. On the top sheet spread butter very lightly, spread nuts  and sugar lightly all over and roll like the roualde.

If the roll is bigger than the baking pan, then you can cut the sides to adjust it in pan. Before placing the roll, brush butter in pan.

Repeat the steps for rest of the sheets and arrange rolls in baking tray.

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Coarsely ground nuts

Bake Baklava rolls

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF or 180°C and bake for 40-45 minutes, till pastry turns light brown in color and looks crisp.

Once done, take out and place on counter for 5 minutes. Cut the rolls to desired size.Then drizzle the syrup over the rolls.

Drizzle more nuts and serve with tea or coffee or as dessert.

Baklava Rolls

Crispy, Flaky Baklava Rolls recipe with Phyllo sheets with walnut and pistachios and drizzled with honey syrup.

1 Pack Phyllo Sheets

½ Cup Pistachios

½ Cup Walnuts

½ Cup Unsalted Butter (Melted)

½ Cup Castor Sugar

For Honey/Maple Syrup

¾ Cup Water

⅓ Cup Honey/Maple Syrup

⅓ Cup Sugar

2 tbsp Lemon Juice

Make Sugar Syrup

In a pan boil water, sugar and honey.

Add lemon juice.

Boil for 10 minutes till it starts to become thick.

Take off the flame and keep aside to cool.

Making Baklava

Keep the frozen sheets in refrigerator to thaw.

Once ready to make, keep all the ingredients ready,

Coarsely ground pistachios and walnuts.

Take out in bowl and mix together with sugar. You can also add cinnamon powder/orange blossom water or rose water.

Melt butter.

On a clean baking mat or counter-top, tale one sheet carefully and brush butter on it,

Take another sheet and repeat the above step and then with the 3rd sheet.

Sprinkle nut and sugar mix on it.

Start to roll it like a roulade or jelly roll.

Prepare a baking tray, lightly butter it, Arrange pastry roll on it.

Repeat the above steps and make other rolls and arrange in the tray.

In case the rolls don't fit in the tray, you can cut the ends with sharp knife.

Lightly butter rolls and keep the pan covered till you start baking.

Pre heat oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Bake the phyllo rolls for 40-45 minutes or till the top is rolls appear flaky and light brown in color.

Once done take out of the oven, keep on the counter for about 5 minutes.

Cut rolls in half or in desired size.

Pour syrup on the rolls. Pastry should be quite warm when pouring the syrup as it rolls will soak syrup nicely.

Prefer to keep these overnight so that the syrup is soaked nicely in baklava rolls and serve it the next day.

If you easily get Phyllo sheets at the store in your area do try this crispy and flaky dessert. You can make it in bulk and serve at your gatherings..One of the best and easy to make festive treats at home!!

Hope you  and your loved ones will like this simple and easy to make Baklava Rolls. Do give me your feedback whenever you make these.

Say Hello!!and  visit my social media accounts.. FB, Pinterest and Instagram. Whenever you make this, do post on my FB page or tag me on Instagram.  Pin the recipes for later use.

If you like my work, then do hit the follow button and subscribe to the blog to get notifications on new posts and share the blog with your loved ones. I promise won’t spam your mailbox 🙂.

Thanks for stopping by and keep coming back!!

    Baklava Rolls Learn how to make Baklava rolls your favorite Middle Eastern Mediterranean dessert with Phyllo sheets|Easy recipe for Baklava rolls…

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Lightened up 7 layer dip – 5 SP / serving 😋 . Ingredients: -20 oz 97% lean ground turkey (8 SP) -1 packet taco seasoning (3 SP) -1/2 jar salsa (0 SP) -1/2 cup shredded cheese (6 SP) -15 oz fat free refried beans (0 SP) -Shredded lettuce (0 SP) -1 cup light sour cream (14 SP), could lighten up further with fat free or Greek yogurt, but I can’t give up my sour cream 😍 . Instructions: 1. Cook…

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‘I’m afraid for Canada’: Energy CEOs losing patience with country’s indifference to oilpatch’s plight

The Canadian oilpatch is losing patience with the country’s lack of support for the industry.

The plunge in global crude prices is being exacerbated in Canada by a lack of pipeline capacity, sending the country’s oil prices to a near record discount to the U.S. and energy stocks reeling. Gas producers can’t even catch a break: while U.S. gas has surged about 19 per cent in the past week amid an expected cold stretch, Canadian prices have actually dropped 14 per cent.

“Globally, we’ve politicized energy so much,” Darren Gee, chief executive officer of Peyto Exploration & Development Corp., a Calgary-based gas producer, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Toronto office Wednesday. Environmental and regulatory concerns have added an “entire layer of risk that people just don’t know how to asses.”

Alberta ramps up pressure on Ottawa to offer more than ‘bland assurances’ on resource bill

Oil industry spars over forcing temporary production cuts as heavy crude dips to $15

What happened to oil? Why crude prices plummeted 25% in 5 weeks

Gee joins other executives and investors lamenting the country’s inability to get its energy to global markets. The Keystone XL and Trans Mountain oil pipeline projects are facing fresh environmental scrutiny while gas exports are largely handled by only one pipeline company, TransCanada Corp., said Gee.

An analyst with one of the largest foreign holders of Canadian energy stocks, Capital Group Cos., warned in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently that investors and companies will continue to avoid the Canadian energy sector unless more is done to improve market access.

Separatist Sentiment

Canada’s main energy index is down 11 per cent over the past 12 months compared with a 3.4 per cent drop for U.S. energy stocks.

While the government bought the Trans Mountain project in an effort to get more oil flowing to the Pacific coast, Gee holds out little hope of progress. Trudeau’s government has “absolutely no interest in having that pipeline built or expanding this basin,” Gee said. The government’s seeming indifference to the patch’s plight is likely to foment political friction in Alberta, he said.

Miles of unused pipe for Keystone XL. The plunge in global crude prices is being exacerbated in Canada by a lack of pipeline capacity.

“I’m quite afraid that we’re going to see a separatist agenda in the west and a lot of separatist movement because of the energy industry. I’m afraid for Canada for that reason,” Gee added.

Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd.’s CEO Andy Mah said the country has to stand up for the industry. “We keep coming back and finding better ways to do things but there gets to be a point where we need people, public and political, to understand this is a big sector in Canada,” he said in an interview at an energy conference in Toronto on Wednesday.

Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada could be an energy superpower but he should have made clear that “the rest of the world will fight us tooth and nail for market share like mad, so get ready Canada, we’ve got to put our elbows up and fight back,” Gee said.

“As a Canadian, I’m offended by what’s going on,” Daniel Halyk, CEO of Total Energy Services Inc. said at the GMP FirstEnergy conference. “We’re selling our resources for pennies on the dollar.”

Bloomberg.com

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"7 Things I'm Focused On For IMPACT's Marketing Ft. Kathleen Booth" (Inbound Success Ep. 62)

As the host of The Inbound Success Podcast, how am I applying all of the many lessons learned in these podcast interviews to the marketing work I do at IMPACT?

Kathleen Booth

This week on The Inbound Success Podcast, I'm flipping the script and sharing the top seven things I'm focused on for IMPACT's marketing.

I spend a lot of time on this show interviewing other marketers about what's working and how they're getting great results. I wish there were enough hours in the day to try all of the incredible strategies and tactics that my guests share but alas, time is limited so we are forced to prioritize.

Listen to the podcast to learn about the top seven things I and the marketing team here at IMPACT are focused on now.

Transcript

Kathleen Booth (Host): Welcome back to The Inbound Success podcast. My name is Kathleen Booth, and I'm your host.

This podcast has now reached an important milestone, at least for me. We've been going for a little over a year. I haven't missed a week yet, including Christmas and New Year's of 2017, which both fell on a Monday, which is the day I publish. So, I was really excited to reach that year milestone.

Now that we're 60 plus episodes in, I wanted to take a pause and do something a little different. By that, I mean every week on the podcast, I interview somebody who's getting great results with their marketing, and I try to pick apart what they're doing that is working and make it actionable.

That's always my goal. I know that's what I want out of podcasts. I really want things that are actionable that I can apply, that I can use to change my marketing, and get better results. So, I thought it would be interesting if this week, instead of doing an interview, I shared with you what I'm doing to my own marketing as a result of what I've learned hosting the podcast.

If you listen at all regularly, you know that I love doing the podcast. I always say I would do it even if nobody listened because there's just so much great information and lessons learned out there from these practicing marketers who are doing this every day. I've gotten a lot out of it, and there are a couple of things that I'm pretty passionate about.

You may know from listening that I work at IMPACT. I'm the Vice President of Marketing, and I have an awesome team of marketers that I work with. Our job is actually to do the marketing for the agency as opposed to the marketing for our clients. 

A lot of the work that we do in our team trickles down to our clients because we like to think of ourselves as a laboratory, and we definitely like to test the unproven theories on ourselves first so that we can make those mistakes on us and roll things out to clients when they're working really well for us.

So in no particular order, I want to share with you a few things that I'm really passionate about that we're testing that seem to be working well for us.

1. On-SERP CRO

The first thing that I want to talk about is something that I'm calling On-SERP CRO.

That's a lot of acronyms. So, on search engine results page (SERP) conversion rate optimization (CRO). Most of you know what CRO is, conversion rate optimization, and most CROs talk about how to improve conversions on their websites. That's actually not something that we spend a lot of time on at IMPACT because we have a fairly healthy conversion rate. We get a lot of leads. But honestly, we don't really work a lot of our leads. We work our bottom of the funnel requests, which are the people that reach out and say, "I want to talk to you."

We're lucky that we can do that, and so we don't focus too heavily on the conversion rate on our website. Instead, we're focused on the conversion rate within the search engines themselves. The reason for that is that organic traffic is really important to us.

I'll get into that why that's the case in a minute. But, we've been testing out a really cool tool called Click Flow, which I discovered after interviewing Eric Siu of the Marketing School Podcast and Single Grain earlier this year. You may have listened to that episode. It's from earlier in January. Eric started the company Click Flow to create a tool to makes it easier to do conversion rate optimization on search engines.

So, we actually use Click Flow to test out the impact that changing article titles and meta descriptions can have on our click-through rates from the search engines. It's been really fun and really interesting to work with them and their tool to test this out.

We've gotten some great results. We're definitely seeing improved click-throughs, and it's really taught us an important lesson in how critical title is. I mean, the title, if you think about it, of your content, your page, your article is really the equivalent of the subject line in an email. It's the deal breaker if you're getting traffic organically. So, that's one of the things that we've been working a lot on.

Christine Austin, who's on my team, is our On-SERP CRO guru. She's been doing some really interesting experiments, and we're definitely seeing improved traffic. That's number one.

2. Optimizing For Featured Snippets

Now, closely related to that as number two, which is optimizing for featured snippets. I've talked a lot about this this year. I've written articles about it. I spoke about it at our conference, IMPACT Live.

This is something that has been a major game changer for us. So if you've seen my article or if you heard me speak, you might know that earlier this year, back in March, we saw a real kind of significant dip in our organic traffic to IMPACT's website.

It was really a big challenge trying to figure out what was causing it. There was nothing immediately apparent to blame. The SEO on our site is fantastic. We've really optimized the site for speed and page load times, and we couldn't figure it out on the first pass.

Luckily, I was able to sit down with one of the SEOs from HubSpot's in-house SEO team when we went up there for partner day. He looked at some of our data and pointed something out to me that I might have otherwise missed, which was that our rankings had continued to grow, and all the other kind of signs of have good SEO were looking great, but our click-through rates from the search engines were going down.

There were a few other indicators involved there, too. But basically, what he concluded was that we were losing traffic to the featured snippet, which is essentially Google's position zero.

So, you've seen these featured snippets. Some people call them the answer box. It kind of goes by a lot of names, but it's that box at the top of the Google results page that actually gives you the answer to whatever you were searching for right on the page.

Google's moving more and more in this direction of just trying to answer your question on the page, and it makes sense if you think about it. Because for search engines, their ultimate goal is to give you the best answer as fast as possible. That's how they stay in business. That's what keeps Google at the top. So, it makes sense.

Not great for those of us who are trying to get traffic to our sites through search engines, but an opportunity.

So, we've been working all year to really try and optimize our content for featured snippets, and we've seen a payoff. We began going back and adding little modules to our articles in June or May, I think it was, to try and optimize for the featured snippets.

We really started to get traction later in the summer. I think it was in August we had something like 280 featured snippets, which is great. And we really saw that reflected in our traffic.

Interestingly, recently, we started to lose a few of those. So now, I'm digging into what's changing with how Google's optimizing or how Google's selecting what winds up in the featured snippet. Stay tuned, and I'm sure we'll talk a lot more about that. But, that's been a game changer. Definitely still works, and definitely something we'll continue to focus on.

3. Shifting to a Publisher-First Business Model

Now, a few other things that are really top of mind for us here at impact. First, I guess would be really taking a step back and looking at this from a 50,000-foot view. We've really made this shift, and we're operating as a publisher first, meaning we used to be an agency that published a lot. Now, we are a publisher that has an agency inside of it.

This is very much reflected in our homepage and what our website looks like. You know, we don't look like an agency site if you go to impactbnd.com. In fact, you have to go to agency.impactbnd.com to really see our marketing agency site, and that's by design.

We've really committed to this approach. It's very much the brainchild of Bob Ruffolo, who is the CEO and founder of the company, and very much inspired by the writing of Joe Pulizzi, the Founder of The Content Marketing Institute. He wrote two books, Content Inc and Killing Marketing that are like our bibles around IMPACT.

So, we've very much pursued a publisher strategy inspired by Joe's writings.

So, as part of that strategy, we've really changed the way we're approaching the content on our site. We continue to publish longer form articles, but we've added a new category of article to our site, which you may have noticed if you visit at all frequently, and that is the news reaction category.

We're never going to be, at least that I can imagine, breaking news. We don't have the staff or the newsroom to support that, but we are really committed to covering the breaking news once it has broken and putting a layer of added value on it and really trying to help marketers understand why it matters to them and what they might want to be thinking about or doing as a result of that breaking news.

You'll see a lot more of those types of articles on our site. They're fun to write. They're quick. They're really interesting, at least to me. And they're fantastically helpful for marketers who want to stay on top of this incredible fire hose of information that is our industry.

I mean, I know that's one of the challenges I face in my role, and I've heard a lot of other marketers say they face it, too. So, our hope is that we're really solving for that need on the part of the marketer.

4. A New Newsletter, The Latest

In addition to really moving in this direction of covering more news, we've changed the entire way that we email our audience. This has been a really interesting evolution for me to be a part of.

When I first joined the team, we really were focused on blog subscribers. So, a lot of the email we sent out was automatic digests, either daily, weekly, or monthly to people who subscribed to our blog. We had a lot of blog subscribers, over 20,000. But, we wound up doing a lot more that required us to email people in the time since I've been with the company, things like regular webinars, events and conferences, you know, other kinds of transactional events, like website throw downs or our presence at INBOUND.

What wound up happening was we were emailing our audience a lot. It really did get to be a lot. We knew it was happening. We knew the volume was going up, but there didn't seem to be a great solution to address it until September when we really changed gears and we did away with all of our blog digest emails.

We did away with the majority of those transactional emails to promote events, and we shifted gears and focused on a newsletter. That's something that IMPACT hadn't done in a long time. We had one a while ago, and we decided to bring it back but in a different way.

We really didn't want to do your traditional agency newsletter where it's just kind of like, "Here's a few articles we've published, and here's an offer for an ebook." We wanted to do something much more personal.

So, in September, we launched The Latest, which is the name of our newsletter.

The Latest is really meant to be the one email that helps you get all the information you need as a marketer to have the most productive day. It's written by some folks on my team, mostly by Ramona Sukhraj, who is an incredible writer. She's our head of editorial content, and she's got a great point of view. She is the one that most frequently writes The Latest. You'll see it in your inbox coming from her.

Sometimes Liz Murphy, who is our director of web and interactive content, will chip in and write as well. You may start to see more of her in the coming weeks.

But really, it's from these two individuals, and that's by design. We wanted it to feel very personal. It doesn't come from a generic inbox email address. It comes from their personal emails. You can respond to this email, and they read every reply they get, and they answer most of them, if they're not complete spam.

There's always a personal spin, or an anecdote, or a story, and definitely a lot of personality. We do include some articles, but instead of just giving you an executive summary, we try and say why they matter, why you should care. We only pick the best articles. Then, there's usually links to a few relevant podcasts or shows, upcoming events that you might be interested in.

Sometimes we put in some funny things, especially on the weekends. We like to include throwbacks to old commercials or old videos that make us laugh. So, that's been a major change.

In fact, if you get The Latest, I would love to know what you think about it. It's been a big shift for us. We're really hoping ... Our goal with it is to eliminate all of the other email we send. So if you are interested in staying on top of the content that IMPACT is creating or sending out, or you want to know about our events, the best way to do that is to subscribe to The Latest, and hopefully you find it useful.

If you don't, I'd love to hear why not. So, you can either tweet me @WorkMommyWork or you can always email me at kbooth@impactbmd.com.

So, that was another big change. I hope this year we will be continuing to move in the direction of eliminating all email other than the newsletter.

5. Conversational Emails

Now, when we do send out email, here's another one for you, we are really trying to shift away from those classic marketing emails, the designed emails.

We use a template that we built that we call the "conversational" template. It looks just like something that came out of somebody's Gmail inbox. That's by design.

Now, it's not intended to fake out the recipient. What we're not trying to do is fool you into thinking you got an email from somebody that came from their personal email. It didn't go through a marketing system. We're just trying to strip away the unnecessary, and that means stripping away unnecessary design, and stripping away unnecessary formatting, and different spacing and fonts, and just boiling it down to what matters, which is the words, right?

Bob Ruffolo, again, who I mentioned earlier, who's the CEO, is very passionate about this. I wish I had him here to talk about it. But you know, the idea is to create a one-to-one experience. It's kind of the same idea that underlies what we're doing with the newsletter to make it feel like it's one person speaking to one person.

That means not only getting rid of fake formatting, which I would never use if I was just sending you individually an email from me to you, you know, I would just send it with text from my Gmail. But, it also means rethinking the wording, and the copy, and the subject lines, and getting rid of all that marketing speak, and that jargon, and really challenging ourselves, and asking the question, "If I, Kathleen, was writing this email to my friend Sally, how would I write it? Would I use the words that I otherwise use as a marketer?"

You know, I think we all fall victim to this. It's kind of ironic where we are, as individuals, very discerning consumers and we can spot a spammy email from a mile away. But as soon as we put on our marketing hat and we write a marketing email, we break all the rules that we dislike when marketers use them on us. So, we've really been challenging our team to do this, and to rethink it, and to try and make everything feel very one-on-one.

Our goal with these emails is to get a response, not a conversion per se, but a real reply. Because if you're sending an email one on one, that's usually your goal, is to get a reply, not for somebody to click through and get your ebook or register for something. It's to get a response.

So, we're very much thinking through whenever we communicate with our audience, what's the response we really want? How can we add value for them and engage in a conversation? So, that's been really interesting.

One of the ways we've tested this and challenged ourselves is by showing our work.

Now, this was inspired by my interview with Dave Gerhardt over at Drift where he talked about how the team at Drift shows their work.

I thought that was brilliant, and my team now has a slack channel, which is really for this, where we, before we send anything out, we send it to each other and we critique it, and we ask that question, "Does this sound like you sending it to me?" And if not, it goes back to the drawing board. So, that's been a really interesting evolution.

It's been fun watching the team open themselves up to constructive criticism, to rethinking the way they do things. Sometimes that's a painful process. I'll be the first one to admit it, especially when you're the one writing something and maybe the rest of the team doesn't love it. But, we've all grown so much and learned so much this year by doing that.

6. Video, Video, Video

Another big thing that we're doubling down on is video. We talk a lot about this at IMPACT, and we're passionate about it. We're putting our money where our mouth is because we have an entire video team in house, led by the incredible Zach Basner who is the video strategist behind our Film School for Marketers YouTube Channel. Check that out if you're interested in learning more about video.

But, Zach has assembled a team of editors, and producers, and on-air talent and trainers that is formidable. His passion, and the company's passion, is to teach other companies how to do video for themselves.

So while we do video production, you know, if you need a video made, we can do it, our real focus is more the teach-a-man-to-fish approach. So, Zach spends his time going into other companies and really training them on how to build their own in-house video departments and also training their subject matter experts, who will be the on air-talent, on how you get comfortable on camera and what makes a good video.

Interestingly, we had to go through this process ourselves. Because even though we're a marketing agency and we've done video, we really haven't had a completely bought-in culture of video in the past, you know, that permeated every corner of the organization.

So, Zach, in conjunction with Marcus Sheridan, who's one of the partners in the company, have really committed themselves to imbuing IMPACT with this culture of video.

Today, it's kind of fun to watch. We have a sales team that uses video in all aspects of their selling. One of the superstars on that team is Myriah Anderson, who's our customer success specialist. I have never met anybody who is naturally more comfortable on camera and so great on camera as her. She's really come into her own, both in terms of how she uses video in the sales process, but now she's starting to speak about it. That's something that's really exciting.

Now we're talking about, with Zach, you know, how can we really make ourselves the best example in the world of what it means to use video in your marketing? So, stay tuned because we're going to be working really hard on that in the months to come.

7. Telling IMPACT's Story

Then, I would say the last thing that I'm really focused on is telling our story. IMPACT has undergone a tremendous transformation in the last couple of years, and it's really remarkable to watch that happen. Even though I've been on the inside for part of it, it really started before I joined.

One of the things I noticed is that we haven't done a great job of completely telling our own story. So, that's going to be my goal going forward is to more effectively tell IMPACT's story, and our why, and what we're passionate about.

We started that earlier this year and rolled out, I would say, phase one of that at our event, IMPACT Live, when we introduced our Inbound Manifesto, which I'm going to link to in the show notes. If you haven't seen it, it's pretty cool. I'm really excited about it.

It is a strong statement about what we believe in and what we believe Inbound is and should be today. Underscoring that Inbound Manifesto are a couple of principles that we're very committed to of education, and community, and transparency. So, that's gonna be a big part of how we tell our story, but I think we have more work to do.

Who Should I Interview Next?

So, that's what my focus is going to be for the rest of the year. I'm sure there will be more things. I feel like every single time I interview someone for the podcast I add something new to my list of things that I want to test and try. It's been so much fun doing this podcast, and I'm always on the lookout for interesting new stories to tell.

So if you've been listening to this episode or if you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time, I have a challenge for you.

I really want to make this as useful to you as possible. So, my challenge to you is to get back to me -- to reply -- because as I said earlier, we're all about the replies, and tell me who I should be interviewing.

Give me one name of somebody that you think has a great story to tell. It could be you. And if it is, I'm fine with that. You can recommend yourself. But if it's not, tell me about somebody else who's doing great work with inbound marketing. I would love to surface more stories, and I would love to learn more from others.

There are two easy ways to get in touch with me. You can always tweet me @WorkMommyWork, or you can email me directly at kbooth@impactbnd.com.

Please, please reach out. I would love to hear from you. I've thrown down the challenge. I'd love it if you'd step up. Let me hear from you, and let me know who you'd like me to interview, and I'll do my best to get them on. That's it for this week.

If you've been listening, if you are a loyal listener, it would mean a lot to me if you would take a moment and visit Apple Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen to podcasts on, and review the Inbound Success Podcast.

This is just really a labor of love for me. I don't do a lot of work to promote the podcast. I probably should do more, but I'm a one-woman show, and I would just ... If it means something to you and if it's helpful to you, I'd love to hear more about it, and I'd love to know why it's helpful. Put that in your review. I would be so grateful.

Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you next week.

Want to stay updated when the podcast is released?

Drop us your name and email address below and we’ll send you the show notes every Monday!  

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/impact-marketing-kathleen-booth-podcast

[ennaraw52]

Speak up! Speak out!

DEMYSTIFYING VOICE PROJECTION

Okay, so if you attended the workshop, you learned all the factors that contribute to being heard even if you are not being seen, but did you really learn it? As in, will it change your life?

Let’s recap that workshop and see what we have:

What is this thing called voice projection?

Being able to project your voice does not mean speaking louder or pushing harder to force the sound out of your body, instead, in a nutshell, voice projection means speaking clearly, enunciating properly, and communicating with your audience.

       How does one accomplish these tasks?

Well clarity in sheech comes from clarity in intention. If you are unsure about what you are saying, you will speak hesitantly, quietly, and/ or in a garbled manner, and rapidly. These are done in an attempt to concela the fact that you are unsure of the words you speak. And all of these speech patterns will individually serve to sabotage clarity. Done collectively in any scenario, your audience will wonder why you are even speaking.

So what are the key components to voice projection?

     In a nutshell: posture, personality, and confidence.

Since your posture affects your breathing, it stands to reason that a misalligned body will adversely affect the uninhibited passage of air being expelled through your lyranx (voice box). It also follows that you will need good breath support to achieve power in your deliver. But even with a powerful voice, if you are just uninteresting and flat, it will just be a booming monotone, like the continuous sound of bombs being fired, and we all know how much aversion we have to warming up to that sound!

So spicing up your speech with some vocal layers and textures that are uniquely YOU, will certainly serve to enhance the communication between speaker and audience.

     Now what are we missing?

Confidence

Confidence needs its own category and paragraph(s), because not only does it affect your speech and your ability to deliver a scintillating and motivating speech, but confidence is the backbone to everything you want to achieve in life.

      Without this one ingredient in your life, your life boils down to a torn and tattered notebook of pages and pages of enumerations of a life unlived. A tabulation of what we commonly refer to as our ”wish list.”

So ask yourself, are you doing what you REALLY want to do? Or have you settled for a life that is comfortable, because you lack the confidence to reach further? A life that stretches you beyond the succesful accumulation of a spouse, a two-car garage, 2.5 children, and a cat and dog?

Perhaps you are like the millions who have convinced themselves that what they are doing is what they ”really want.” Because what they are doing is safe, and safety represents comfort, which equals stagnation.

But stagnation is the precursor to death.

Thus, when we cease to push further, beyond our comfort zone, when we make the choice to not stretch and challenge our confidence level, we are essentially chosing to sign our own death warrant.

So ask yourself today, one day post-workshop, how is my voice projection? Is it not good because I need to work on my  personality, posture, and pronunciation, or is it suffering because I lack confidence in myself?

*Workshop at Beijing Drama Club, venue: Caravan Restaurant, Beijing, CN

All images courtesy of David Callen

  from Speak up! Speak out!

[sprphotog-blog]

Delightful Tiramisu

Delightful Tiramisu,meaning “pick me up”, “cheer me up” or “lift me up, is a popular coffee-flavored Italian custard dessert. It is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, flavored with cocoa.#Tiramisu, #coffee, #Italian #custard, #dessert, #ladyfingers, #dipped, #whipped, #mascarpone, #cheese, #cocoa, #food, #eat, #delicious,…

[kabramkrafts]

Can you believe that June is almost gone? It has gone by very quickly for our family!

Fourth of July

Well, here I am always thinking about the next holiday and what SVG files I should create. Feeling patriotic? Great! I have just the thing for you. These little name cards would be great for labeling food at your great big 4th of July party!

Do you have any family recipes that only come out on the 4th of July? Our family has one that we like to call the “Fourth of July Dip”. Really, it is just a delicious 7-layer dip that covers a huge serving platter. I’m sure that the recipe is no secret. However, the dip is delicious and is rarely seen in our family except on the 4th of July.

4th of July Name Cards

So, what do you think of these cute little cards? I am partial to them. Since I like my projects to be as simple as possible, these cards only have 3 pieces – one for each color.

  Free 4th of July SVG file download

And now, of course, the download. Please enjoy! As always, this is for your personal use only and I love to see pictures if you end up using it!

Note that the download will give you an SVG file which you can import into your software and ungroup to get each color separately.

    Also, be sure to check out my fun STARS SVG file. Let me know how this one cuts if you try it out!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Fourth of July!

  Fourth of July – free name card SVG Can you believe that June is almost gone? It has gone by very quickly for our family!

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Atkins Snack Bar, Caramel Chocolate Nut Roll, Keto Friendly, 30 Count (Pack of 6) Size:30 Count Atkins Caramel Chocolate Nut Roll Snack Bars are a decadent nougat roll with roasted peanuts and caramel covered in chocolate.